Love it.  Very informative.

If we had a base on the moon and it had an Amateur Radio Station, how hard would it be to communicate back and forth to the operators on earth?

Which band would be the most effective?  I'd like to use 2 meters or 440.

How many watts would you need?   We wouldn't have the reflection issues / losses of EME.  It would be line of sight communication.

How about a repeater?

LOL.  The map on my qrzcq data page shows Southern Illinois.
I'm in NC  LOL. 
Guess they have some bugs to work out.



Edit:  Joined and added my Long. and Lat. and it fixed the map. 

The best antenna for me is my $50 102' G5RV @ 50' strung between 3 trees as a horizontal flat top.  Almost invisible and picks up weak stations very very well.  Had it @ 20' and it didn't work nearly as good for SWL, so what ever antenna you use height is truly the key.

I really want to see some specs before I start holding my breath.

Looks like a dual band - cross repeat - dual receive, but the descriptions don't even say how many watts.  Hope its at least 65w VHF / 50w UHF. 

Wish they would throw us a bone.  Maybe then I'd get a hankering for meat.

Yep,
Change out the button battery.  Be sure to wrap it well with a dielectric tape or shrink wrap before closing the radio.  It's a very tight fit inside the HT and it will certainly short out if not covered very well.  After install, reset the radio and it'll be good to go. 

I still use my HTX-202 daily.  It's a little work horse of a radio with great audio Rx and Tx.  I'd have it buried with me except I'm going to will it to my nephew.  It may outlast him too.

Does anyone sell 2 meter beacons for propagation? 
I can find sources for Fox Hunt beacons but nothing that transmits more than a few milliwatts.  I'd like something between 2 and 10 watts.

I really don't want to build one.

I admit it.  I'm an Antenna Junkie.  My house looks like a porcupine.
I currently have 6 antennas and use LMR400 or RG213U. Soon I'll be adding at least 3 more antennas.   

It's very easy to confuse all those runs of coax. I tried using paper labels with wide clear packing tape but they don't stick very well or take kindly to being handled.  Then graduated to colored zip ties but they don't make enough colors for 9 antenna runs.

How do you permanently label your coax cables to eliminate confusion?

KB9ICO, John,
These whips have been "out of stock" on the Radio Shack web site for a couple months.  Yesterday I went to a different Shack store and there are none in stock in this district so I convinced their manager to order them from a different region.  The store manager also told me that this item is very probably going to be discontinued.  Unfortunately special shipping from other internet vendors almost doubles the price.

It's a shame they keep dropping radio related items in favor of cellphones.  I still run my 5/8ths wave 2m Radio Shack mobile antenna and my venerable HTX202 as my daily HT. Both are 20 years old and still going strong.

KE4VVF, Tony

I was going to make a 102" whip rotatable dipole for 10 m using Radio Shack whips and a MFJ-347 dipole mount.  It was for stealth reasons and as a portable field day / mountain top DXpedition antenna.  Radio Shack apparently doesn't stock them anymore, or their supply dried up. 

Does anyone know of a good brand of SS whip for a horizontal dipole application?   I'm trying to stay away from the Hamstick type spiral wound gizmos and the MFJ Mini Dipoles.

@ KE4YOG, Ray

I'm still a Tech but will be a General soon.  I run 100 watts on an IC-746 (not Pro).  I have only one space left for a rotatable dipole, all my other masts are filled with VHF antennas.

I have been using a 102' flat top G5RV @ 50' for 10 meters.  I'm contemplating building a 10 meter rotatable dipole and mounting it at 23'.  Other than the advantage of rotation, will the 10 meter dipole perform better than the G5RV in a fair test? 

I've heard good and bad comments about using a G5RV on 10 meters. Everything from "I'd be better off transmitting on an underground sewer line" to "It has excellent gain where there are no nulls in the pattern". 

Thanks,
Tony KE4VVF

Edited to add " 102' "

G5RV ends oriented NW & SE.  Picks up everything except S. Africa just fine.

Hallicrafters SX-99
Beautiful radio.  Needs a good antenna and it will tune very well.

Now I use my IC-746 and a G5RV antenna.  The Hallicrafters is still on my desk.